Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Gen Con.The Best
Four Days in Gaming.They ain’t just
whistlin’ Dixie.J

So here is my perfunctory Gen Con post.

Day 0 (Wednesday):

Woke up entirely too early to catch my flight.Slept on the plane.Arrived in Indy and took a limo to the
hotel.(They really aren’t that much
more than a cab from the airport).Ate
some lunch.Unpacked.Gave a small tour of the area to my friend
who had never been to Gen Con before.Got my badge and tickets. Helped
my other friends set up their booth.Waited a long time to get seated for dinner at Weber Grill, but the
yummy food was yummy and we had a big group.Went to sleep.

Day 1 (Thursday):

Got up early to line up for early VIG access to the Dealer
Hall.Went straight to Three Geeks and aNeedle, where I bought a Tardis bag similar to the one shown below.My most expensive purchase of the trip, and I
love every fiber.Walked around for
about 20 minutes before leaving to go to my 10am game of Cthulhutech.Still love that system, and I will run a game
in it someday.Went to an okay seminar
on “Better Adventures” which mostly was stuff I knew already.Sat down for a bit in the VIG lounge.Went to my 4pm Game of Thrones game, which
was a short adventure to familiarize one with the system.I had never played GoT before, and I did like
the system.But really I think it was
more my (and the other players’ and GM’s) enthusiasm for the series of books
and shows that made me want to play.I
could see setting a campaign in that world without necessarily using that
system.Got some dinner.

It's not actually bigger on the inside.

Then enter Fiasco game #1, using the Gangster London playset
at Games on Demand.First of all, our
organizer/pseudo-GM Travis was most excellent.Second of all, we had a complete blast.I laughed more in that 2 -2.5 hours than at any other point I’ve ever
gamed, period.Third, all of the players
were first-timers who really put their all into it.Fourth, the creator Jason Morningstar was
running a game at the next table, and I still felt like our table was the best
place to be – that’s saying something!It was a blast – and as you will see I played it a bit more over the
weekend.

Afterward, I tried out some Sentinels of the Multiverse card
game, which is basically comic book heroes brought to life.It was fun, but I was tired and left about
halfway through the game.

Day 2 (Friday):

Woke up and took my turn working the ENnies booth.I think most of the traffic that came by
stopped because there were two non-intimidating women at the booth who seemed
friendly, but there were a couple of people genuinely interested in the
nominees.Then I played some Eclipse
Phase, another system I adore.I will
run that someday too.Afterward I went
to a seminar about novel writing, which had valuable information about setting
up your novel, but wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be.Still good though.And then it was getting ready and going to
the ENnies.It was a lot more fun after
the judges’ announced their spotlight awards, because up to that point I was
nervous.Afterward, I went and played
some Cards Against Humanity with a friend & his friends, then off to sleep.Also, this was the day the Star Wars RPG was
announced, and one of my friends snagged me a copy (yay!).

Day 3 (Saturday):

Woke up and spent an hour in the dealer hall before playing
Giant Seafarers of Catan, during which I may have stood in line to meet Wil
Wheaton.I hadn’t ever played seafarers,
and I did a bad job of selecting locations appropriately.However, I love Catan even when I’m losing
badly, so it was fun.And the details of
the Giant Tiles was great.Then I had
some lunch, talked to some friends, and went to the ENnies judges panel, which
had essentially no attendees.It was the
first year to try it, and I don’t anticipate that it will ever be held
again.However, it was a nice time to
chat with the other judges and gain a sense of closure on judging.Afterward, I took a nap and then woke up to
eat some dinner and then go to True Dungeon, which was awesome.The draco-lich at the end looked like the
cover of the Neverwinter Nights campaign book come to life – and the new
location inside the ICC was really atmospheric.Then played game #2 of Fiasco with friends, using the Vegas
playset.It was a late night!

Day 4 (Sunday):

Slept in.Packed up,
checked out of hotel.Went to Games on
Demand.Thought about playing
Hollowpoint, but ended up playing game #3 of Fiasco, using “At Regina’s Wedding”
playset.The first game was still the
best, but I had fun all three times.Afterward,
spent a bit more time in the dealer hall, made a couple of purchases (fate
dice, Dragon Age Set 1, an Eclipse Phase dice bag, and some normal dice –
nothing too crazy or spendy).Then it
was lunch/dinner at the Ram – yum – and then off to catch the plane home.

I spent most of Monday asleep, which was lovely. And now back to reality. :(

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

My responsibilities for the 2012 ENnies have concluded.The ceremony happened on Friday, 8/17.Congratulations to ALL the winners – you can
find the complete list here: 2012 ENnie award winners

Being a part of this process was very rewarding, to say the
least.Attending the ceremony as a judge
felt great.I was genuinely thrilled for
all the winners, and not knowing which products won before-hand made for a very
exciting evening.

Among the winners, I was probably *most* excited for
Gaming As Women,Masks: 1,000 Memorable NPCs for Any Roleplaying Game, and
Stealing Cthulhu.Gaming as Women is a blog
written by a collection of women about their experiences, good and bad, in the
gamer community.Though I can’t relate
to everything they post, I am happy in the knowledge that there is a place to
discuss any issues openly and honestly.Masks is a product I will be using for the rest of my gaming
career.It is full of rich NPCs that
would add depth to any encounter, session or campaign in any system.And Stealing Cthulhu provides new ways to
incorporate Cthulhu into your campaigns.They are all worthy of their wins.

Now, to highlight a few other products.

As a judge, I was given the privilege of awarding a Judge’s
Spotlight ENnie award.My choice is Edge
by Outrider Studios:http://www.edgerpg.com/.

[gush/]I absolutely,
positively love the world that was created for Edge.There are beings with preternatural powers that
humans call “angels” and “demons,” though they are not exactly as we think of
them here on Earth.These angels and
demons exert power and influence over humans, and they are diametrically
opposed to one another – and compelled to destroy their counterparts.This leads to conflict, and occasionally
full-scale war.There are Edgemasters,
who are magically powerful warriors, Dreamweavers, who are able to bring ideas
to life, and Chosen, who are soldiers bound to Angels or Demons.The game uses the Rapidfire system, which
encourages quick combat and more roleplaying.

On another level, as much as I love-love-love this game, I
want to point out that it treats women very well.What do I mean by that?Looking through the book, there is very little
exploitative art (ie, women are fully clothed, and there is little cleavage to
be found).There are two badass
characters in the historical timeline, Rowan (a man) and Camille (a
woman).It is a welcome change.

There are also some
products that I would have loved to have seen nominated but didn’t quite make
the cut (there was some fierce competition!).

The Faerie Ring:Red Jack – this is a very clever little
supplement for Pathfinder.It is the
second installment of six in Along the Twisting Way, and provides a rich
backstory for an adversary that could pop up in any campaign.I will be searching out the other five
installments.http://zombieskypress.com/pathfinder/the-faerie-ring-red-jack/

All in all, I was very
excited for all the nominees, and happy for the winners as well.Though I may have my personal preferences, I
felt very proud at the ENnies ceremony about the high standard of quality in
roleplaying games over the last year.Can’t wait to see what next year holds!